28 Weeks

Puppy Love

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to update this all week but have been so busy shopping, working, and cooking that I haven't really had time til now. And actually I'm a bit pressed for time right now too, since we have family staying with us, but here's a quick, semi-update (and I will do another update as soon as I have time).

28 Weeks:

HELLO THIRD TRIMESTER!

It's official - just three months to go. Wow...that went by fast. It feels like just a few months ago I found out I was pregnant. Now here I am saying I'm all two-thirds of the way prego and stuff. I am feeling really really excited mixed with a lot of nervous thoughts about all we have left to do to get ready for the baby. And of course a little nervous about how the heck a baby is going to come out of....that. Eek.

I find it's most helpful to just not think about that part at all. Whatever happens will happen and that's the way it's gonna go. We pretty much have decided that no birth plan is our best plan. I'd like to go to the hospital with no expectations other than that I will be leaving it with a newborn. All the crap women talk about regarding the "dreaded Pitocin" and playing music during the delivery, and "he broke my water before I was ready!!!!" -  aint nobody got time for that.

I had a little talk with my doctor about it and he said that while you can have a birth plan in mind (and you can even download one from the internet if ya want and bring it with you to the hospital), nature usually has her own plan. And she does what she wants. So that's what made the most sense to us. Let nature run it's course for as long as possible, and if it's not working out the way the doctors want to see it, let them intervene. I have no reason in mind not to get an epidural; I' don't really have a high pain tolerance and I also don't feel the need to be in excessive unnecessary pain, nor to do things "the all natural way."

Being pregnant is seriously hard enough. Along with how physically demanding it is, there are a million conflicting opinions and endless information readily available on what is right and what is wrong, and people just LOVE to shove that crap down your throat. People who don't know you will tell you not to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk and "make sure you're not eating any soft cheeses, honey", etc. My favorite line I've heard so far is "Don't fall!" Yes, thanks for that. I was planning on falling at some point, definitely while pregnant, but now I won't thanks to you.

I have been fairly sensitive to everything people have said to me for the last six months and can't even tell you how many times I've been scared I've done something wrong and that it may have hurt my baby.  I wonder if the doctor's office talks about how "the crazy paranoid lady just called again," after I call with a weird question that I feel only they can answer for me. The pregnant woman's head (well, at least MINE anyway) is already full of  "what if's" mixed with fear of the unknown, on top of  everything society tries to hammer into our brains. In a nutshell,. it just makes it kind of  suck for people like me.

So sometime over the last month I have just gotten fed up with listening to anything that other's tell me, unless of course it's coming from a trained PHYSICIAN, or is positive encouragement, or the ever-welcome compliment of how great I look. So if you're reading this, and you get the urge at some point during the next two-ish months to tell me to back away from the bleu cheese-laden buffalo dip, or want to comment on my possibly too small or too large pregnant physique, please be ready for me to pay you a similar comment (unless of course you are a pregnant person - I would never do that to you).

Anyway, whatever it is you are celebrating I hope you all have a great holiday and a happy new year!!!






 

25 Weeks

25 weeks. 14-15 weeks to go? March 15th is coming up. I can't really believe that in just a few months we'll have a little baby on our hands! Crazy how fast time flies. I can't say that I've been having a BLAST being pregnant this whole time, but really it hasn't been so bad (so far).

I always thought people who said being pregnant gives you "nine months to get used to it" were just being preachy and I never believed them. I thought to myself that I'd probably hate every second of being pregnant and it would be the longest nine months of my life. But not true, at all. Well...maybe slightly true, cause there have been horrible days where I felt really awful and just wanted to lay in my miserable bed all day and hate on anyone who talked to me or got near me (sorry Cody). But mainly it's been pretty easy, and truly speaking, you really do have lots of time to get used to it.

Six months ago the thought of having my very own baby to take care of terrified me, while now it is an exciting fantasy. I can't wait to be a mom and hold my little guy and do the whole breastfeeding and burping thing and diaper changes and well...just take care of him. I'm not assuming it's going to be easy, but am just really looking forward to it.

And the pregnancy has really forced me into taking care of myself as well. Before I got pregnant I would eat when I felt like it (aka skip breakfast and/or eat dinner at 10 pm), smoke like a chimney, and drink like a fish most weekends. My smoking habit at least was kind of curbed by the time I got pregnant. Pretty much each day I would only have one cigarette, in the car, after work on the way home. But on the weekends, all rules went out the window because of course I drank more on weekends and the two go hand in hand.

But I must say putting a stop to those bad habits has made me feel so good and healthy. I wake up (almost) each day feeling rested and great, and there is no rebound scratchiness in my throat every Monday like there usually was in the past, and no headache on Sunday mornings from boozin' it up the night before. I do miss the occasional cigarette still, when the mood strikes, but since day one I've found it pretty effortless to completely quit cold turkey, and I plan on staying smoke-free after the baby comes too. Now THAT is probably going to be a tough one. I must stay strong!

Now onto other things. So something funny happened to me almost a couple of weeks ago now. I'm making sure to document it here because I have a feeling I may forget it, as it already seems to be way old news. Maybe in the future I'll look back on this and get to compare one pregnancy to the other, or have it here to show it to a friend whose going through something similar in her pregnancy. Are you reading, future pregnant friend? Good.

So. I was leaving work and walking out of the resort on Saturday night and felt something pull in my upper leg/groin region and then got all crampy for the remainder of the night. It was really uncomfortable but I just chalked it up to being ligament pain and achiness from being on my feet too much that day. So I went home and got on the couch the rest of the night then went to bed, where I woke up repeatedly from what felt like period cramps.

In the morning I still had them, and I remember reading a "call your doc if this happens" list somewhere and menstrual-like cramps were on it. So I called the doc, who then suggested that since it was Sunday and the office was closed, that I go to the hospital and get checked out by someone in maternity. Which I would have done per his orders, but I had to get ready for work, and I really hate calling in - especially last minute, and I was trying to avoid getting stuck with a big hospital bill. So I decided against his advice and went to work instead. Stupid me. That was a mistake. I was just as, if not more uncomfortable there and ended up leaving in a rushed panic after not even a couple of hours because the cramping was still going on steadily and I started feeling weird pressure in my pelvis.

When I got there they hooked me up to a fetal monitor, and a contraction monitor. I actually was having small "pops" of contractions they said, which scared the crap out of me! I assumed that it was just going to be a "better safe than sorry" trip (which it really ended up being) and that nothing was actually happening, but the pains I felt were real and just went to show me how important it is to really listen to my body, and of course to my doctor. The contractions they told me were happening probably because I wasn't drinking enough water and maybe due to pulling my hip the night before. And they also said ligament pain was surely to blame for all the discomfort.

So in a nutshell, we stayed there for an hour or two and they made me real comfy and had me drink an entire pitcher of water, and then sent me on my way. When we got home Cody built me a "nest" as he calls it on the couch and waited on me all day, bringing me beverages and snacks. He is such a good sport. Over the course of the day I was still feeling crampy but it was pretty much all gone by the time bedtime rolled around, and I was back to normal. So now that THAT happened I am taking extra care to at least double my water intake every day and to rest when I need to. The hip pain is almost all gone thankfully, too. Phew, that was pretty scary. Lesson learned.

Other than that there really hasn't been anything crazy to report. Still feeling tons of baby kicks all day everyday, and they still haven't gotten old. The belly is getting bigger and bigger every single day, and I finally am starting to fill in those cute maternity tops that Mindy gave me, which looked scarily large the first time I laid eyes on them. And somehow I still am able to sort of squeeze into a few non-maternity shirts too. I guess this is what they call the "cute" phase of pregnancy, haha.

Quite a drastic change in belly size since the last pic I posted

Christmas will be here in a flash, and by some miraculous force I seem to be almost finished with most of my shopping already. We put some lights up last weekend for our Thanksgiving get together just to make the house pretty, but won't actually decorate everything and put up a tree til next week. I am looking forward to that, I love Christmas.

Emmit Love Bump

And then there's this guy. My little Emmy seems to sense what's happening, some days that is. He is acting lethargic and snuggly and protective of me most of the time, and then there's still the occasional moment where he almost steps on my entire body because I'm in the way of something that he needs. Mack is completely oblivious still, that little f***er. He's still a puppy though. I am nervous of how things will go down once we have the baby, I must admit, but a lot of people say that dogs instinctively "know" to be gently with babies. I sure hope they are right. I know they both will be getting a rude awakening when we first bring him home and get kind of left out for a bit, but I'm sure they'll adjust accordingly, and we'll still have time for them too. If we have to keep them in their cages more at first, that is just what we'll have to do. 

Now onto the name game. I do believe hell must have frozen over because over the course of the last week, Cody and I have found a name we both love! Nothing is set in stone yet, but as of right now our top pick is Jackson. Jackson Cody Law. Sounds like a little cowboy, and is a very strong,  masculine name to grow into. I love it, Cody loves it, Jackson Hole and Cody both are beautiful places out west; It's a solid name. I do hate the idea of choosing a name before we see the baby, so we aren't "announcing it" or anything, but plan on having three top name choices to pick from, then choosing our favorite once he is born. Our second choice is James Cody Law, aka Jamie. As far as Cody's concerned though, it seems to be a done deal.

Anyway, that's all for this update, I will post again before Christmas!